Johannesburg based Audrey Anderson got a BA (Fine Arts) degree, majoring Visual Communication and Fine Arts at the University of Pretoria in 2006.
This is where she refined her peculiar eye for everyday moments, focusing on twisting these apparently banal slices of life into a sort of illustrated graphic-novel. Anderson’s daily scenes are enriched with some suspense and not-said, to engage the viewer’s imagination into something surely more unpredictable than a common action.
In doing so, she emphasizes the simplicity of these acts or events, how they represent a shared experience and relate to the South African context. She had chosen the drawing medium to investigate its narrative potential, as it allows great flexibility and permits her to get visual inspiration from graphic novels, which she is passionate about.
“Simple lines can depict complex ideas and emotions with great impact.” she says in her artist statement, “ My work explores interpersonal and emotions relationships through different drawing medium and techniques. In this way, the artworks subvert the narratives and overemphasize the banality of day-yo-day life.”
Talking about the different mediums Audrey Anderson uses, we notice how sometimes she explores with wine and coffee on paper to use a technique that requires a balance between nature and personal control, reflecting what we can or cannot control in life. This is deeply correlated to the scenes of any everyday life, full of small accidents and awkward moments out of our personal control.
Audrey Anderson is always investigating for new visual communication techniques, and as she says: ”This translates as a philosophy in my art, automating though life is not much of a life without a good balance of control, accidents, elaboration and unexpected moments.”
You may check more about her here.
